When my grandmother passed on not too long ago, my family set to the task of cleaning and clearing out the home she and my grandfather had built 50 years before.  Her backyard greenhouse, half-acre garden and jar-filled canning room felt like relics of a bygone era.  Around the long kitchen table, my family reminisced… homemade wines and sauerkraut, handmade clothing, a 1960’s rooftop solar installation—homemade by my grandfather—and a geothermal heating and cooling system he’d crafted himself too.  They, although they’d never have considered themselves as such, were quintessential DIYers.

The DIY lifestyle, having gained slow steam in the down economy, is long forgotten to the majority of Americans.  Today, we’re living a predominantly “throwaway” existence, according to Mark Frauenfelder, editor-in-chief of Make magazine and author of “Made by Hand” (Portfolio, 2010), released earlier this year.  In his new book, Frauenfelder chronicles his own do-it-yourself escapades, including beekeeping, cigar-box-guitar crafting, home tutoring, and even a rendezvous with a backyard chicken coop.

A few days into the engaging hardcover, I found myself nostalgic for my grandparents’ home.  The processes that Frauenfelder describes in great detail had made me hungry to craft.  The book, chock full of his (often frustrating) experiences, provided a buzz to the brain—a reminder of the fulfillment that creating something from scratch brings.  Despite the lengthy process of learning a trade, coupled with the trial-and-error phase of re-dos, the truth remains that building our own “stuff” is what we humans were made to do. To create.  To perfect. To try, try again.

While it’s absolutely guaranteed to NEVER be the easiest approach, tackling a project on your own is often an environmentally considerate, mind-sharpening, and cost-effective option.  If anything, Frauenfelder reminds us of just that.  And sometimes, a simple reminder is all that we need to shift gears.

(Full disclosure: Portfolio provided us with a review copy of “Made by Hand,” which retails online and in national bookstores for $25.95.)